diff --git a/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb b/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
index c5e34d416..c93927d7a 100644
--- a/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
+++ b/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
@@ -106,7 +106,11 @@ def self.apply_binary_collation(bincoll)
         if bincoll == true
           coll = 'utf8_bin'
         end
-        ActiveRecord::Migration.execute("ALTER TABLE tags MODIFY name varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE #{coll};")
+        begin
+          ActiveRecord::Migration.execute("ALTER TABLE tags MODIFY name varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE #{coll};")
+        rescue Exception => e
+          puts "Trapping #{e.class}: collation parameter ignored while migrating for the first time."
+        end
       end
     end